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Many people toss expired or unused medications in the trash or flush them down the toilet. Some components of these drugs end up in our lakes, streams, and water supplies. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “The improper disposal of unused medications by flushing them or pouring them down the drain may be harmful to fish, wildlife and their habitats.” Additionally, throwing medications away in the garbage may be dangerous since they can end up in the mouths of children or household pets.
According to an Associated Press investigation reported in early 2008, “A vast array of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.”
Since the amount of the drugs found in our water supply is hundreds or thousands of times lower than the quantity found in the medications that we take, it is not clear what the potential harm is to humans. However, research has shown that there can be effects on animals that live in the water such as fish and frogs.
How Do Medications Get into Our Water?
Drugs enter our water supply in several ways:
- Many of us have medications that we no longer take, that have expired, or were used by someone who died. Most of these medications are flushed down the toilet or, in the case of liquids, poured down sink drains.
When we take a medication, our bodies absorb some of the drug. The remainder passes through us (in our urine or stool) and is flushed down the toilet.
- In both cases, the wastewater is treated by our local sewage facilities before it is discharged into local reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Most of these water treatments do not remove the entire drug residue. Some of this water then may go to drinking water treatment plants and piped to our faucets.
Federal Guidelines
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy issued the following guidelines in 2007 for the proper disposal of prescription medications:
- Follow any specific disposal instructions on the drug label or patient information that accompanies the medication. Do not flush prescription drugs down the toilet unless this information specifically instructs you to do so.
- If no instructions are given, throw the drugs in the household trash, but first: Remove the drugs from their original containers and mix them with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter. The medication will be less appealing to children and pets, and unrecognizable to people who intentionally may go through your trash.
- Put the drugs (or the mixture of drugs with an undesirable substance) in a sealable bag, empty can, or other container to prevent the medication from leaking or breaking out of a garbage bag.
- Take advantage of community drug take-back programs that allow the public to bring unused drugs to a central location for proper disposal. Call your city or county government's household trash and recycling service (see the blue pages in a phone book) to determine if a take-back program is available in your community.
As part of the aforementioned policy, the government recommends the following drugs be flushed down the toilet instead of thrown in the trash. The goal is to reduce the danger of unintentional use or overdose and illegal abuse. |
